Red Velvet
by californiatart
Summary: A devil ascends to the surface to bring back with him another soul to the underworld. From the beginning, he was his little experiment, his curiosity, his wonderment... but... what are these funny flying "butterflies" and blooming "flowers" and pink "hearts" doing in the pit of his stomach?
1. The Dark Night Life

_**Summary**_: A devil ascends to the surface to bring back with him another soul to the underworld.

_**Pairing**_: Devil!Gilbert x Human!Roderich

_**Warning**_: This story contains dark themes, gore, and many, many strange things. First GilxRod!

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_**Chapter 1**_: The Dark Night Life

It was the night life in the quiet city of Vienna, the capital of Austria. All of the houses in the city are asleep in the darkness with their window's white light off. Tonight was a dim night, with little to no stars in the sky above, and a shy crescent moon hiding behind the grey misty clouds. Of course, with the exception for one building, whose white lights are always seemed to be on and on and on, for forever. There was a sign before the building, it said, '_Vienna General Hospital'_ in nice cursive letters. A cloud happens to pass by the white building, and instantly, it tainted all of the white in the windows its bizarre black color.

Down below the asylum of darkness, there seemed to be a shadow of a man hanging against the black walls, dimply in the darkness. He was crawling on and around the walls and the windows like a centipede. His red velvet eyes flickered to the left, then to the right, then, to the left, again, again, and, again. Tonight was an exceptionally fine night like him. Into those dark windows he passed by, in between the small, thin creaks. There smells only of delicious deaths and desolation despair. His body shivers in compulsion, in delight and uncontrollable bliss; goose bumps were sends down to his spines knowing that all of these charming little souls will soon be his. After some time of admiring his handsome bloodshot eyes, he begins to creep upward. Upon reaching his destination, he dives straight into the glass window, passing through the cold crystal shield, and then through the other side is a nice, little white room. The whole room was dark, support by diminutive lights. There is a woman, sleeping peacefully on top of a bed, with a long line of life support tubes connected to every part of her stilled body. The man's crimson eyes come in contact with a pair of violet eyes._ Oh_, it's just a human. There is a young man sitting on top of a chair in a corner, and with a vacant look on his face, he stared absentmindedly at the woman; whose was deep asleep, unconscious of the world around her.

He could not be seen by mortals _anyway_. Moving on.

The man snaps his fingers together. Then, a red flame ignites from his long, calculus fingers. Black letters begins to appear out from the flames on top of his black, pointed fingernails. He approaches the woman; and begins reading the words before his face, "Elizaveta Héderváry. Member of The Chechen. A drug dealer, a thug, and a murderer… You sound so wonderful, sweetheart." He looks up and stares at the electrocardiogram next to the woman with wide eyes. Counting the seconds for it to end.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep… Three.

Beep… Two.

… Be… ep… One.

… Be…

The anticipation and the rising eagerness had brought out his black horns and obviously pointy tail out from his body. His tail squirmed back and forth, unease and nervousness rumbling throughout his whole body. And then, there was only silent. _Finally._The man grinned, his white fangs revealed between his bloodshot lips, a clear saliva droplet of his shimmers in his dark shadow. His red velvet eyes sparked, he hasn't seen a soul this corrupted since _forever_. He raises his sharp, silver claws, and lifelessly draws them over her brilliant blonde hair. His dim body wiggled and twisted around the woman lying on the white bed. His face was unpleasantly close to her body, smelling her delectable aura, taking in her wonderful light skin. His tail worms in glee and circled around his black body and hers.

"What are you doing? The doctors told me she had not passed away yet." Comes faintly the sound of the violet eyed man sitting on the chair, now staring at him. Huh. A _regular _human being should not be able to see him… _Oh_… he seemed _intriguing_. Though, a bit too pretty for his taste. The man stood up, his red velvet eyes on the man sitting on the chair. The grey cloud above the sky outside finally got through the building, the room was still somewhat dark; the faint light from the moon did little to no help. The man jumped over the bed, and slowly strolls over to the violet eyed man sitting on the chair. Upon standing in front of him, the man bends over and stare blatantly into his pale, thin, and aristocrat face. Come to think of it, now that the man had a closer look at him… and, my… does his white soul looks… delightful…

"… You can see me…?" Questioned the man in an astonish voice. He watches at this human like he had seen a rare gem.

The violet eyed man looks upward and into the red eyes of his guess he goes. "… Please don't take Elizabeth. Take me with you instead…" The man paused for a second, unsure how or what to address the black shadow in front of him. He begs with pleasing eyes, desperation in his voice, "… Devil…"

… _Ah…? _

"… And, why should I obey your words, master?" Inquired the man, his crimson eyes challenging him, mocking him, urging him to go on with his nonsense. His hands rest on either side of the chair rest, staring deeply at the man with wide crimson eyes. His pointy tail flips back and forth behind him.

The violet eyed man sits still in his chair. Motionless, unafraid, and unaffected by the being in front of him. He simply answers, calmly, "Because I am so much more fascinating than her. I can see you, remember?"

The man stare at him, dumbfounded, and then begins laughing, his laugh was more like a snake hissing than anything else. "Kesesese!" He laughs, and laughs, and laughs. _This human is really something._

"Alright, human, you got yourself a good deal." He accepts the violet eyed man's proposal. And then, there was huge silent between them in the following moment.

"… What are you waiting for, human?" The man interrogated with a strange look in his ruby eyes. There was an itch on his back.

The violet eyed man tilts his head to the side. "What?"

"Come with me, you said you'll give yourself to me in exchange for the woman. Am I right, or am I right?" He stated the obvious. The violet eyed man's face shown some hesitation, reluctant, adverse, finally snapping out of his little night dream. The lively colors on his face begin fading away. A paused. More time pass. Tick, tick, tick. The man could hear each passing second in the clock hanging on the left wall. His patient thinning. He dislikes waiting. Time is very precious. And he is wasting it, with this indecisive, uncertain, and doubt filled little man. With a grunt he held onto the violet eyed man's right hand, lifting him away from the chair, and into his cold body.

"You looked terribly pale, human. This is an unfair trade; I would've taken more from the deal." He stated his distress. He turns his body over and walks toward the window. Upon reaching the woman lying on top of the bed, he jumps over her. This human is as light as a frail piece of paper. Again, he plunges directly into the glass window, through the crystal barrier. Once outside, the man easily lands on top of the black ground and then, he, along with his new trade, jump onto the next building. He turns over, his own red gaze and the man's violet eyes was on the dim room they were in earlier.

"Look, she gets to live, in exchange for your soul." He told the man in his arms. True to the devil's words, the woman arises from the bed; a confused gaze spreads over her face as she tried to adjust to her dark surrounding.

"But…" Before the violet eyed man could protest against him, the devil snaps the fingers in his right hand together. He continues to carry him with his left hand.

Again, a red flame appears and then burst into the night life like fireflies, a black apple appears in the palm of his right hand. "Here, have an apple." He said, handling the fruit to violet eyed man to shut him up.

The violet eyed man takes the apple, and quietly observes the odd looking fruit he was given. "This apple is rotten." He reacted; a fairly distasteful expression extents over his youthful face. The devil takes off into the black sky once again, planning to sightsee the dark night some time before going back to his home. He was smiling during the entire trip, ignoring the blabbering man, he was thinking of all the dirty little ways that he could do to corrupt this pure little human in his arms.

_Oh, this would be so much fun._

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_**Arthur's Note:**_ Hello my little ghouls, this is a story that's been lurking around my head this morning. This story was inpired by velvet cake. I really like the words "Red Velvet" so we'll see how it goes. I am sorry I don't update that often, and my grammar is still as terrible as ever; apologize for that, too. :)


	2. The World Below The Surface

_**Chapter 2:**_

_The World Below The Surface _

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This is nothing but a dark void, a hole, a tunnel, a warren jail. The only light in this dim setting are the gleaming red slugs spattered all over the never ending pathway. Roderich could feel a thick drib landed on his lips, it smelled of bitter iron. He opened his eyes and licked away the dribble on his waterless lips, it tasted exactly like Elizaveta's blood.

"The Ace has returned!" Said a voice resonated off the murky, remote horizon. There was a wonderment pause. Something is moving inside the darkness before Roderich. Light and swift like a rain drop. It was a figure of a man.

"… Is that your new Queen… or King, I suppose, my lord?" A dark shadow appears from behind the figure said.

"_I am afraid so, my dearies." _

Roderich could feel something cold stirring underneath his body and looked upward, his violet eyes then comes into contact with the most unfathomable pair ruby red stones. He could feel slimy, icy scales under his exposed skin. Even though it was supposedly dark, he could clearly see the black horns, white teeth, sharp claws… It was the creature from the other day… so it wasn't the imagination from his fatigued, overworked mind. The background before Roderich was hazy and foggy and blurred, like, he was under hypnosis. He takes in an inhale, closes his eyes, and then opened them again. Turning his head sideway to take his head elsewhere, Roderich cocks his head in confusion. This place… it was like he is in some sort of game for children. Now that his vision is adjusted against the darkness, this place, the jiggling toys, the stuffed dolls, the rainbow of cake decorations before him is as intricate and elaborate as a maze board.

"… I'm the Joker." The voice from the figure before him snapped Roderich back into their puerile, puzzling conversation.

"No, I am the Joker." Countered the other dark shadow.

The figure raised his hand and draped it other the dark shadow like a curtain, he says, smoothly, "Precious love, you're too good to be the Joker."

"Oh, I guessed you're right, I'm the Jack, then." Came the immediate, innocence voice of the dark shadow.

"This is Antonio and Francis, love; they are a really adorable couple, right?" The devil coiled and twisted his head down to Roderich's level and winked at his bewildered face. The Australian parts his eyes to the side delicately like a polite gentleman. He was frightened for a fleeting moment there. The devil jumps up, suddenly, seizing the Austrian in his arms with him. The scenery before them had conformed into a tiny, little ball and disappears like a tear dripping off of a waterfall.

This time around, it was a red chamber, filled with the colors of rubies, crimsons, and scarlet. On the ugly furniture, on the unattractive walls, even on the unappealing floor. There were white little dots of souls floating around the room like a ballet of balloons. The devil set Roderich down on top of an unpleasant rug in the middle of the room and ghostly strides away, leaving the Austrian limping on top of the thin mat. As the devil sat alone on his throne of maggots, his most favorite seat, his tail wormed back and forth, forth and back, back and forth. His red eyes, probing and incisive. He takes in a fistful of souls before him and swallowed them whole, there were saliva evading the two end curves of his mouth. As the time slowly fading away, the devil grew bore of just looking at the human under his throne. He impales his right hand into his stomach and pulls out an intestine coil only to twirl it around, absentmindedly.

"I'm bored." The devil apparent barely; his red eyes were dull and leaden. His face suddenly brightened, "Ah, but before that… You, it has irked me for many seconds of a minute now… how did you manage to see me, human?"

"It has always been there… my gift, or curse, you could say, that I am able to see other unworldly creatures around me. And, it is Roderich. Roderich Edelstein." The Austrian sat on his laps gracefully, like a Japanese puppet sitting on top of his red tower looking over his follower.

At this point, the devil had his heart, liver, and lung juggling around on and off his hands. "Oh, so, you're just like the people in those bizarre human books… the ones that could see spirits and declared themselves the savior of mankind over night?"

The Austrian man had on a strange look as the words were being spoken by the creature behind his violet eyes. "… Sure."

"So, that woman." The devil swing to a different topic like dusting off dust on his shoulder. "Who is she to you? Aren't you humans all are cowers when it comes to your own death, the unknown of the other world?"

There is a white flash in Roderich's eyes, he lowered his head and declared, "… I owe her my life… you would not have known what is being in debt with somebody's like, devil."

"You mean like money? Of course, it is the root of all evil, as you mortals had once said. I have an infinite amount of riches using only a snap of my fingers. And, it is Lord Gilbert Beilschmidt to you, human." The devil crosses his legs and whistled. A yellow bird flew out of his cage and landed on his shoulder.

"You have a name?" The Austrian man questioned.

"Of course, I'm not an uneducated, stinking, sewage rat like my younger brother." The devil begins stroking the bird's feathers.

Roderich tilted his head to the side, somewhat confused, "A young brother? Why are you using such a tone, devil?"

"Yes, prince charming, apparently, he felt in love with some human brat and obsessed over him like a sissy. Pathetic." The devil signed in exhaustion.

Some more time passed, ever slower than before. The devil yawned and utters, "I'm bored."

His head snaps downward and thin pupils on the human before him, "Entertain me, human, what can you do? I'll horrifically hungry, today; I'll eat you if you don't do a good job."

_How can he say such a distasteful thing so casually?_

Roderich glared at him, his emotions well hidden behind his glasses. Truth to be told, he was started by the words coming out of the devil's mouth. With his teeth so white and sharp, and tongue so long and greasy. "… Music… I can play on a piano."

"Like Einstein?" The devil inquired, somewhat rapt.

Roderich had to stop and think for a second of what he meant, "… No. I think, what you meant, is… Ludwig van Beethoven."

"What does my stupid brother have to do with this?" The devil scratched his head, absolutely confused by this tiny human.

"No. Beethoven is a deaf pianist." The Austrian retained himself from executing out any undignified actions. The devil's thin red eyes darts over to his yellow bird on his right shoulder and pointed at the man's direction. The bird slowly flew over to Roderich and unshed himself out of his feathered clothes. His guts turn inside out and waterfall into a red piano, just a few steps away from the Australian. The keys are composed of his pointed fangs. A scarlet slime puddle circled over his body. Its two eyes move back and forth as he awaits for Roderich to sat on the red chair connected to his crimson figure.

The Austrian had on a dismayed expression as he stared the horrid scene up front, "What is this monstrosity?"

"My charming, little friend, Miss Gilbird." The devil introduced his tiny buddy, with affection, a bit too late.

"… Miss Gilbird?" His violet eyes almost, just slightly, twitched.

The devil shrugged, as if this is the most normal everyday thing, "He is not going to eat you, unless I told him to."

Even though this '_piano_' is the most disgusting, grotesque thing in the world, Roderich had on a saddened façade, his fingers inching to glide against the keys… even if they're dripping in red blood. "I… I can't walk."

The devil raises his eyebrows, then, goes back to his normal face, "That can be change." He jumped off his throne and strolled over to the Austrian with a calm expression. The devil had on an unusual look in his playful red eyes. Upon reaching a point in front of the Austrian, he lifts up Roderich's crossed legs and held it in the air. Then, a smile. It was an abnormally wide smile. So wide that the end corners split his face in half. Little strings of white teeth were shown under his cracked, parted crimson mouth. The devil bit on his right feet and ripped off all of Roderich's toes. To the bottom calves, then the bony knee joint, then upper thigh.

_Red._

Red blood was oozing out of his bitten feet like cascading waves. Almost speechless, Roderich yelped, "W-what are you doing…?!"

_Scared_.

He was scared. He was scared of the look in the devil's red eyes. He was terrified of the aching on his right foot. He was petrified of the red color spilling out of his body. Roderich's violet eyes when into shock as the devil's mouth moves to his left leg and bit off his whole foot. Blood dribbled over his body like a wall of crimson paint. The devil was eating him away like a worm chewing away a petal of a flower. Roderich could no longer endure the image anymore as his mind slowly comatose into unconsciousness. There was a moment of weakness as his violet closes abruptly when his whole left leg is no longer there. Roderich creak his eyes open, faintly. One last time.

_What happen…?_

His eyelids move upward, in surprised awakening. What ever happened to his eaten legs just now? Actually, his legs are still in attachment with his lower body. But, Roderich, somehow, had felt tired from the blood flowed into his upper body. The devil is no longer on top of him with his weird red eyes, dripping saliva, and wide mouth. Roderich lowered his legs down, slowly, just barely coming back to reality, whatever it is. He could feel the weariness and drainage from having his legs being raised so high.

A voice, Roderich lifts his face to the side; the devil is looking down on him, smirking, and says, "You should be able to walk now."

"…" Roderich was stunned, to the very least of his traumatized experiment as he slowly stood up by his own two feet without help. True to the devil's mocking lyrics, he could stand straight, finally, after not taking a single step for many years now. He had felt like crying. Like a child taking his first step.

"Oh, what is this? Have you fallen for me, human?" The devil twirled around the Australian.

"… Thank you." Roderich whispered, unable to say anything otherwise. There was a flicker in his violet eyes, which are full of unexplained grace and joy.

"Huh?" The devil started, stopping his dancing midway. He shrugged, vaguely, "It is no big deal, really. You humans are such silly creatures."

Roderich shook his head. No. _He wouldn't understand. _

The Austrian man slowly walks over to the dreadful piano, seated himself on top of the red chair, and slowly lifts the velvet covers away from the keyboard. "No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, Sonata Pathétique.'' He murmurs under his breath. He closes his violet eyes, seal his lips tight, and let the music speaks.

And, then, there was music in harmony, bringing the room alive with gentle beats and tunes. The voiceless song brushed over the devil's ears like elusive silk. For a moment there, the devil's own eyes and attention had himself halt completely under such mesmerizing spell. The tune slowly fades away, leaving the Austrian and the devil alone, but some fading beat are still insisted in the air.

"… This piece dedicated for Countess Giulietta Giucciardi, in my own belief, it is who Ludwig van Beethoven was deeply in love with at the moment it was written. It was rather romantic, I say. Whenever I close my eyes, I could see a garden of orchids blooming for her coming from such simple music notes. Just like his one sided love, it was a fantasy from another world. As the composer, Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter, thought, _'The interpreter is really an executant, carrying out the composer's intentions to the letter. He doesn't add anything that isn't already in the work. If he is talented, he allows us to glimpse the truth of the work that is in itself a thing of genius and that is reflected in him. He shouldn't dominate the music, but should dissolve into it.' _I think Beethoven executed his longing quite well throughout… should not that we all, humans or not, called '_love_'?" The Austrian ruminated to himself, closing his violet eyes, still playing the engrossed melody in his mind. His pale hands are now covered in the yellow bird's blood.

"What a childish thought." At this point, the devil is on his throne, once again. Unbeknownst to Roderich, there was a faint reflect of fascination in his red eyes.

"… _Humans…"_

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_To be continue after another extremely long break until my inspiration takes over. :)_


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